What happens in Valhalla
by Cissmoll
Summary: Short stories about Caius and Lightning during their eternal war. What happens in Valhalla, stays in Valhalla. [No. 1] The experiment


After spending an indefinite period of time in Valhalla, Lightning was starting to notice some strange things about her eternal opponent. She always gave the fights her all, using every ounce of strength and magic in her body. It was enough to keep herself alive but she was never even close to permanently defeating Caius. At first, she'd thought they were of equal strength since none of them ever managed to end the war between them. Then, she'd started noticing the uncharacteristic mistakes he seemed to make every time he came close to winning. Most of the time he was at a slight advantage, both thanks to his mighty Bahamut form and his centuries of practice, but every time he had the chance to actually kill her he would let his blade slip or his magic miss. It was weird, and Lightning was getting seriously irritated. She had no idea if keeping her alive was a part of his grand plan or if he was just playing with her. Either way, she didn't like it. Being Etro's pawn was more than enough; she didn't want to be a part of his game too.

In the middle of one of their more intense fights, Lightning decided to take a chance. She knew she had to stay alive to protect the goddess, but she also knew that simply staying alive would not be enough to protect the world if Caius were working on a new plan. She had to know if he was actively keeping her alive. She had to know _why. _

The fight had begun on the beach but had slowly moved from the ground up to the roof of one of the Valhalla's many abandoned buildings. Caius was in his human form but his eyes flickered with red every time he swung his blade. Lightning knew he'd turn into his monster form soon.

The next time Caius raised his sword, Lightning decided to leave an opening. She blocked his attack with her gunblade but left an obvious window between the sword and her shield. If Caius wanted to, he could easily drive his sword into her unprotected side. She knew he'd noticed the vulnerability – he was too good of a fighter not to notice it – but he didn't move. Their eyes met. Caius' lips were smirking as usual, but his eyes showed a hint of inner conflict.

Lightning jumped back to put some distance between them before charging, mixing physical and elemental attacks. Caius blocked it all, that strange glimmer of pride and amusement back in his eyes. He loved fighting her, Lightning realized, her irritation growing every second.

"Stop playing with me!" Lightning yelled, anger flaring up inside her. Her attacks got more intense as she used her emotions as fuel. She got braver, leaving more and more obvious openings.

"Stop it," Caius growled, his sword only grazing her, leaving shallow flesh wounds where he could have cut her in half.

"Or what?" Lightning said, raising her eyebrows in an unmistakable challenge.

"I do not want to do something I would forever regret," he said in a low voice, his eyes beginning to glow. In an explosion of purple he turned into his Bahamut form. The power from the transformation sent Lightning flying, pushing her over the edge of the building. Lightning automatically began to summon Odin, but then changed her mind. It was a gamble, she knew that, and the odds weren't in her favor. She was putting her trust in a mad man whose motives she couldn't even begin to understand. _But I have to know, _she thought, looking at the sky as her body rushed towards the ground. Her heart was racing and the fear was threatening to take over her mind, but she managed to keep her body motionless as gravity did its job. She closed her eyes. _I have to know. _

Two strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. She opened her eyes again to look at her rescuer. His eyes were still glowing red but he was back in his human form. His face was hard, but the grip around her waist and thighs was gentle.

"What are you doing?" Caius hissed, landing on the beach with Lightning in his arms. "Do you wish for death?"

Lightning blinked. She'd definitely gotten her answer, but she hadn't exactly thought it through. _Now what? _she thought, staring up at Caius. He looked angry as usual, but he also looked a bit worried.

"You are hurt," he stated, dropping her unceremoniously in the sand.

"Wasn't that the point?" Lightning grunted in irritation. She tried to get up but was hit by a wave of dizziness. A trickle of blood threatened to reach her eye so she quickly wiped it off, wondering when she'd hit her head.

Caius kneeled beside her. He whispered something under his breath and placed his hands on the wound on her head. Lightning could feel the tingling warmth of a spell take over her, healing her from the inside out.

"Regen? You cast regen on me?" she asked, too perplexed to move.

Caius didn't answer. His hand wandered downwards, caressing her cheek. His touch was strangely gentle and he had a soft, almost affectionate look on his face.

"Why?" Lightning continued, slightly breathless. "Why won't you let me die? Aren't you supposed to defeat me and then destroy the world? Why-"

Caius abruptly stood up, turning his back on her. "Find me when you're ready," he said before once again turning into his Bahamut form.

Lightning forced herself back up on her feet. "What do you want, Caius? What the hell do you want?" she yelled after him as he flied away on his monstrous wings. If Caius heard her, he didn't show it.

Lightning sat down in the sand again, allowing the regen spell to heal her wounds. Her experiment had been successful, but she had no idea what to do with the results. She still had no idea what her opponent was planning or why he insisted on keeping her alive. _No one knows what the hell Caius Ballad wants, _she thought with a sigh. Then she grinned humorlessly, remembering the look of confusion Caius had worn before flying off. _Not even Caius Ballad himself. _


End file.
